Change is coming

Lots of things going on in IPS right now.

Quite honestly we have had some very good productive meetings lately.  There's no easy way to blog about it all, so I am separating it by topics.

Superbowl-  We have had a lot of discussion regarding busing and parking and traffic.  I hope schools downtown take advantage of this opportunity to raise funds by charging for parking on game day and weekend events.  Dr. White stated 50% goes to the school and 50% to IPS corporate.  My first reaction to this was, "uh.....what?"  However when he explained that IPS holds all liability if something goes wrong, it then made sense to me.

Takeover - We had a meeting with Tony Bennett regarding the current schools in takeover, the ones with lead partners, and the only school on the list for next year, which is John Marshall.  I think that meeting was a very open and honest discussion.  I am thankful for Dr. Bennett for always being willing to attend such meetings.  Also in attendance were Jim Larson, Director of School Improvement and Turnaround and Dale Chu, assistant Supt. for Policy, Legal and Communications Operations.  I have met Dale previously, he has a wealth of knowledge.  And  I really like Jim, he has a great way of explaining things and making sure everyone understands.  Dr. Bennett did state that Dr. White has been very cooperative in this process, event though the media has portrayed him to be less than easy to deal with.  However, there were concerns about other IPS employees not being helpful to the process.  Overall, it was a good meeting and I hope we can work out hte kinks that are still up in the air.

Administrators - The board had to vote on a list of administrators to receive letters notifying them of termination.  I did not oppose this plan, because I know that hard decisions will have to be made soon.  Once a certain date has passed we can no longer notify individuals. Not everyone on the list is a guaranteed termination.  There are some of the list I feel very strong about, meaning I don't want to see them go.  Needing more discussion on the matter the Superintendent offered to hold an Executive Session regarding these employees.  This will be a time that we can ask specifics and really understand why these individuals were placed on the list. 

Manual - I visited Manual the other day.  In a way, I  can really empathize with the staff and students that are in the takeover schools this year.  Howe closed after I graduated, and I remember the disruption it had in all of our lives.  Everything seemed to be going well at Manual.  I stood in the halls during passing period and was pleased with the students behaviors.  The principal took time with me and answered some questions.  I visited with the wonderful parent liaison, Les Martin, whom I met last year at Emma Donnan.  The artwork on the walls were more than impressive.  And I visited the choir room.  Probably my favorite place to visit in a school because that is where I belonged.  I had a wonderful visit and I thank the staff for welcoming me.


I know there is more to update you with, I will try and do a better job of keeping the blog updated.
On the schedule this week is our Education Committee Meeting on Thursday Feb. 2nd beginning at 5:30.  All of our Committee meetings are open to the public.  The following week we have our Legislative meeting on Monday Feb. 6th at 5:30.